


Mitchell Kadar

by aseies



Series: Mitchell Kadar [1]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Age-realistic discussions of sexuality and LGBT themes, Aphrodite Cabin - Freeform, Cabin 10 - Freeform, Child Abuse, It is a collection of old headcanons for the character of Mitchell, Mentions of addiction, Meta, Metafiction, Other, Past Child Abuse, Underage Tattooing, this is NOT a fic, though admittedly a few chapters are fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 08:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 12,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24467647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aseies/pseuds/aseies
Summary: Back in 2014-15 I latched onto the very minor character of Mitchell, son of Aprhodite, introduced in The Lost Hero.  I wrote a lot of words on him, and have decided to include a fraction of them here for Fandom Posterity. Includes a lot of headcanons for Aphrodite Cabin in addition to Mitchell himself.Mind the tags!
Relationships: Mitchell & Cabin 10, Mitchell/Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo & Mitchell, Nico di Angelo/Mitchell
Series: Mitchell Kadar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767325
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Mitchell Kadar: A Summary

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! With this behemoth I end my transfer of old Tumblr PJO/HoO content onto AO3. 
> 
> Mitchell was near and dear to my heart for a very long time, and, uh, judging by the sheer VOLUME of fics that have tagged the "Mitchell (Percy Jackson)" tag, a lot of other people fell in love with him too. I can't take credit for all of them, but I might have had a rippling effect on the fandom by just... talking about him. So much. 
> 
> Most of these chapters have been more or less copied as-is from their original posts, and as such may include fandom lingo and references at the time. Check the tags to avoid potential unpleasant surprises. 
> 
> Please note: The last name 'Kadar' is a fanon name that I picked out! If you've seen that name anywhere else, it was taken from my version of the character. Mitchell was not given a last name in canon. I'll elaborate on why I picked that name in a later chapter.
> 
> If you want to read my writings in their original chaotic form, [feel free to browse this page on Tumblr and follow where the links take you.](https://unprofessionalamber.tumblr.com/amber_talks_HoO_Materpost)
> 
> Hope you enjoy this bit of fandom history!

**Essentials:**

Mitchell Kadar is an **asexual** son of Aphrodite. He has **three powers** : Empathy, Mist Appearance Change, and Physical Appearance Change

  * **Empathy** \- He can feel other people’s emotions, and by touching them he can synchronize his emotions with other people/their emotions to him
  * **Mist Appearance Change** \- Like Aphrodite herself, this power makes anyone with the potential to be attracted to him see the features they find most attractive when they look at him (whether he wants them to see it or not)
  * **Physical Appearance Change** \- Underneath his Mist-shifting ability, he can physically change what he looks like to whatever he wants. He can be any ethnicity or color by thinking about it. 
  * Both these appearance changing powers have a **limit** : If Mitchell physically alters himself externally, the alteration will stay in all of his forms. (EX: Piercings, Tattoos) Also applies for major scars earned in battle.



**Personality:**

Mitchell is an **extrovert** that has learned if you want to survive, you keep your mouth shut. For a long time he followed the crowd and kept his head down, but now (post-BoO) he’s pushing his boundaries and determined to be happy and himself until he inevitably kicks the bucket.

He adores fashion and looking good, but he understands that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and knows how to keep quiet about it. When at all possible he avoids getting dirty, but if he knows it’s unavoidable and can dress for the occasion he doesn’t mind it so much.

He really enjoys a lot of nerdy entertainment like _Lord of the Rings_ audiobooks, and is a huge fan of X-Men, Marvel, and Mythomagic. He gave most of that up when he came to camp, but now that he’s found friends who like the same things he does, he’s started to dive into those subjects again.

Being friends with him can be kind of a chore though, because his empathy powers make him feel VERY deeply. This makes him want deep, meaningful relationships with the people around him, and that means diving into the suppressed emotional baggage every camper has shoved under their beds. He also has a habit of delving into philosophy without warning or evidence to back his ideas.

**Backstory:**

Mitchell was emotionally abused by his mortal brothers before coming to CHB. He arrived two weeks before the Battle of Zeus’s fist in BotL. He fought in the Battle of Manhattan, and then again in BoO.

**Friends and Enemies:**

  * **Selina** \- For the brief time he knew her, she was like an older sister to him
  * **Lacy** \- Arrived at camp after he did, but became fast friends. 
  * **Clarisse** \- Not a “friend” but they visit New York on the anniversaries of the Battle of Manhattan together, and like each other from a distance
  * **Piper** \- They disagree on fashion, but she’s very supportive of Mitchell branching out. He likes her company, and is slowly helping her accept her godly heritage better.
  * **Nico** \- Though they have a rough start, Mitchell and Nico become best friends. Mitchell helps boost his self-esteem through fashion and friendship, and Nico indulges in Mitchell’s frequent bouts of philosophy. 
  * **Leo** \- They start as creative partners, and then turn into dating partners. 



Mitchell only has one person he can’t stand, and that’s **Percy Jackson**. Mitchell’s only ever seen Percy in a military setting, and that’s not exactly where Percy’s most likeable. Mitchell also projects all the things he hates about Camp onto Percy, and has no desire to correct his false image of him. (He is also hyper aware that it’s not Percy’s fault Mitchell hates him, so he’s determined to never let Percy find out.)


	2. ACROP: Mitchell and His Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell's backstory before coming to CHB.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1/5 of my Mitchell Kadar and the Aphrodite Cabin Rite Of Passage series of posts.
> 
> CW for emotional child abuse & manipulation, tattooing of a minor, and themes of addiction

Mitchell was born in New York, to a lower-middle class ethnically Arab-American family but religiously Christian family (they were _just_ above the poverty line). His older brothers, Josef and Adam, never really liked him because Mitchell’s arrival on their doorstep was the reason their mother left. (Not the only reason, but they were a _bit_ too young to fully understand her motivations, and thus they pinned all the blame on Mitchell.) Unlike his appearance changing powers, which started developing when he was around 8, Mitchell's empathy powers were around pretty much since birth. He was an EXTREMELY fussy child, and that didn’t do much for his brothers’ opinion of him.

When Mitchell was 5, they realized that if they touched him they would experience the same emotions that Mitchell was going through. They started to play with that, emotionally manipulating Mitchell so they could see the limits of Mitchell’s powers. When they got a few years older they started manipulating Mitchell's emotions so that they would be able to basically get high on their brother's emotions. His brothers were delighted, and started including Mitchell in their friend groups. Mitchell was overjoyed because he always wanted approval from his brothers, and he finally was able to get it, so long as he acted a certain way. 

(As a side note one of Josef’s friends [Nelson] wanted to be a tattoo artist, and the guy he was studying from wouldn’t let him work on people after x number of years. Because of Mitchell’s appearance changing powers, Mitchell volunteered to be a guinea pig for that person. That’s how he got the tattoo of a dragon on his back – he was expecting it to go away after a day or two. And that’s how Mitchell learned that tattoos would stay no matter how much his appearance changed. He started wearing undershirts to gym class.)

It wasn’t until Mitchell was 10 and started making his first actual friend in the satyr Dan Huang that he started to realize there was something messed up about the way he was being treated. He was realizing that he didn’t like what his brothers were doing with him, but he also didn’t know how to say no or stop it. He also avoided the topic like the plague around Dan, so it took quite a while for Dan to realize exactly what was happening in the Kadar household.

But Mitchell did have eyes – he saw the effects of his powers on his brothers. The more his brothers abused Mitchell’s powers, the more emotionally unstable they became themselves. They tried to use it more and more often, and became unable to deal with their own genuine emotions about their daily stresses. Mitchell saw them spiral into really scary, angry people, and blames himself and his powers for what happened.

When Dan finally brought Mitchell to Camp Half-Blood to be a year-rounder, Mitchell vowed to never let anyone abuse his powers again, and to never use his powers to affect others in a major way.


	3. ACROP: The Aphrodite Cabin Stigma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CHB's attitude towards Cabin 10, and Cabin 10's Us-VS-Them mentality towards the rest of CHB.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2/5 of my Mitchell Kadar and the Aphrodite Cabin Rite Of Passage series.

Both Percy and Piper are quick to write off the kids in Cabin 10 as shallow and beauty-obsessed. While this could just be their personal opinions on those types of people, I’m inclined to believe that this is a Camp-wide belief. Camp Half-Blood is there to train demigods to be warriors and survive in a world of monsters. They value bravery, strength, and smarts. And while love and beauty are just as powerful, they are just not valued in battle. You need to lock away your emotions and push forward to survive. You can’t afford to care about how you look when a hydra’s attacking. At least the people in Athena can fight with their _brains,_ but what does _Aphrodite_ have? Especially if they can’t charmspeak! I mean – they might as well be mortals! (Now, I don’t think that _everyone_ outside of Aphrodite thinks this way, but I do think they tend to be converted on an individual basis rather than one cabin being more accepting than another.)

This creates a strong Us vs Them mentality in Cabin 10. Nobody else will value what they can do, so they’ll value it themselves a thousand fold! They become this tight-knit clique that appears snobbish to outsiders, who then decide they don’t like their attitude and writes them off again. It becomes a vicious self-perpetuating cycle. 

Which brings us to the **Aphrodite Cabin’s Rite of Passage**.

For those who don’t remember, the Aphrodite Cabin’s Rite of Passage involves making someone fall in love with you and then breaking their heart. I think this tradition started by one person getting fed up with being treated like dirt, so they decided to get back at their bullies and make them fall in love with them, and dumping them as a way of saying ‘Yes, I have power, and I just crushed you while you weren’t even looking.’ The other cabin members liked the idea of actually having power and respect for their abilities, and copied the first one.

Eventually, it evolved into a rite of passage in the Aphrodite Cabin, as a sport or something that they just did because that was how it was done. Sometimes it has that edge of power play in it, but over the years its lost its meaning and just became another reason for the other cabins to dislike them.


	4. ACROP: The Atmosphere in Cabin 10 (year 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell arrives in CHB, prior to the Battle of Manhattan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2/5 of my Mitchell Kadar and the Aphrodite Cabin Rite Of Passage series.

When Mitchell joins Cabin 10, they were already a tight-knit group with strict standards. He’s twelve years old, and they’re in the middle of a war. Two weeks after he arrived at CHB he’s fighting in the battle of Zeus’ Fist, and they spend the next year preparing to fight Kronos at the Battle of Manhattan. Mitchell was thrown into this this world of life-or-death circumstances extremely quickly – so he had to learn to adapt, or die.

It was extremely easy for Mitchell to do as he was told. It’s a comfort zone for him, since that’s exactly what he did with his brothers before. Except this time it felt like they were treating him like _actual_ family. They didn’t shame him for liking to look good or dress up – they encouraged it! They taught him how to survive, both at Camp and in the war. They taught him how to love his appearance and take pride in the fact that he could be any kind of beautiful his heart desired. 

So, aside from the whole I-could-die-any-day-now thing, Mitchell quite enjoyed his first year in Cabin 10. It wasn’t until after the Battle of Manhattan that things started to go south.


	5. ACROP: The Atmosphere in Cabin 10 (between TLO and TLH)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cabin 10 deals with the Battle of Manhattan, and Mitchell finally decides to commit to his Rite of Passage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 4/5 of my Mitchell Kadar and the Aphrodite Cabin Rite Of Passage series.

We left off our story at the end of the Battle of Manhattan. Both Silena Beuregard and Dan Huang (the satyr that brought Mitchell to CHB) died in the battle, leaving his support system very thin. He really only has Lacy and his other siblings left. The entire camp is rebuilding – with even more construction than necessary, because they have to build a bunch of NEW cabins, in addition to the damage that had been taken to the camp through the last few years. In order to facilitate this change, the Camp asked the kids to stay at CHB for the semester to ensure everything would be running smoothly by the next one. 

Drew is now the head of Aphrodite Cabin. She and Silena had a special bond – they were the oldest girls in their cabin, and though they held a lot of conflicting opinions, they respected one another. They shared friendly competition, but they could also laugh together. So Drew took the news of Silena’s betrayal particularly hard. Hadn’t they been friends? How hadn’t Drew see the signs? Was Drew really so unimportant that Silena couldn’t confide in her? All this pain solidified as rage, and it’s said that she was so powerful on the battlefield that it only took a her single word for Kronos’ army to run with their tail between their legs.

This continued into her days as a councilor. Her anger lost its edge, but she became obsessed with being better than Silena ever was. Drew always thought Silena should have been stricter about the rules anyway; this was the perfect chance to prove she was right. She adopts a policy of ‘tough love’ and believes wholeheartedly that forcing the Aphrodite Cabin into her ideal of perfection is going to be the best thing for her siblings in the long run.

At the same time, there’s a rumor spreading through camp that half of Cabin 10 didn’t even fight in the Battle of Manhattan. They showed up, sure, but did anyone actually see them fight? A bunch of them turned up halfway through without a scratch on them. As this topic is apt to do, Mitchell gets really pissed about that rumor. Even if it _were_ true, the fact they came back and fought at the end should be more than enough! Isn’t that what the Ares cabin did?

Lacy tried to convince him to let it go, but little fourteen-year-old Mitchell is _pissed_ , and he’s only barely avoided fights with kids much bigger and stronger than he was. Drew walks in on him venting about this topic, and quite agrees that they can’t take this lying down. **Perhaps little Mitchell was finally ready for his Rite of Passage as a child of Aphrodite.**

Mitchell is immediately uncomfortable with the idea, but the rest of the cabin perks up at it, and they start encouraging him. Between his anger, the support of his peers, and a teeny verbal nudge from Drew, he overrides that uncomfortable feeling and starts hitting on one of the more vocal rumor-spreading Apollo girls. It was a difficult thing for him because he’s not good at masking his emotions, and he had to learn the whole new language of flirting from his siblings. But he did learn it, and it helped that he could sync up her emotions to his through touch. So if he felt into the feeling of love and then touched her hand, she’d feel the same sensation back. 

But this process is a double-edged sword. The more time he spent with her, the more he found himself caring about her bit by bit. He had second thoughts all the time, but as soon as he got back to his cabin he was pressured by all sides to keep it up and see it through. He decided to end their emotionally intense charade fairly quickly for both their sakes.

She didn’t take it well. She was utterly convinced that the emotions she had been experiencing were her own, and couldn’t make sense of why Mitchell would dump her. She was upset and hurt and she couldn’t even muster enough strength to be angry. Mitchell FELT all of that pouring off of her like waves in the ocean, and it almost physically hurt him to be close to her.

He’d abused his powers again, and the result was a sobbing girl unable to tell fiction from reality.

No amount of apologizing could fix what he’d done. The Aphrodite Cabin cheered and celebrated his success, and the Apollo cabin cursed his existence. He was talking in rhyme for a month, but he didn’t complain. He felt he deserved it. 

At the end of November, using Thanksgiving as an excuse, Mitchell left Camp Half Blood and went back to his old neighborhood in New York. He met up with his brother’s tattoo-artist friend, and convinced him to give underaged Mitchell a tattoo of a dragon biting its own tail wrapped around his upper left arm. (Mitchell chose the ouroboros because it looks like the dragon is holding itself back and keeping itself in check. Mitchell wants a physical reminder to never abuse his powers. Also, he feels like a dragon is a symbol of protection, and will help keep others from using him in the future. It’s all in his head, but it’s a comforting thought to him – especially knowing that the tattoo will stay, no matter what appearance he has.)

Piper, Leo, and Jason arrive at Camp not long after.


	6. ACROP: A Vow of Honesty (The Atmosphere in Aphrodite Cabin year 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes going to war is easier than facing yourself. Sometimes war gives you a kick in the pants and reminds you life is short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 5/5 of my Mitchell Kadar and the Aphrodite Cabin Rite Of Passage series.
> 
> CW for mentions of sex and sexuality (specifically masturbation and feelings of isolation due to asexuality).

As January begins, normalcy finally returns to Camp Half-Blood. Once again they are preparing for war – the state Mitchell’s most used to seeing it. The part-time campers like Lacy and Drew return to school for now. There’s a sense of uneasiness throughout the camp, but everyone’s aware there’s not much that they’re able to do if they’re not one of the seven.

Now that Mitchell’s had his rite of passage, the other boys in the Aphrodite Cabin start pressuring him about dating and sex. With another war on the horizon, this isn’t the time to be holding back any reckless decisions of youth. They might be dead in a few months! So they might as well enjoy it, right?

Mitchell finds the best way to avoid these conversations is to volunteer to help get Celestial Bronze for the _Argo II_ , so he went off on a lot of missions in the following months.

But he couldn’t avoid the camp entirely.

**He started noticing the things some of his siblings said about other campers.** The way they criticized the nerdier campers. Complained about the grease they got on their clothes when they brought Celestial Bronze to Bunker 9. (They called the _Argo II_ an ugly hunk of metal, and Mitchell thought it was just beautiful.) He started to notice how many couples there were around camp and all the mixed feelings he had about it. His Cabin 10 brothers made it seem like having sex was the pinnacle of a relationship and one couldn’t function without it. He tried masturbating a couple of times but it didn’t do much for him. It was nice, but he couldn’t see what the fuss was about. It made him feel gross and exhausted. But he could sense all the sexual energy charging the air around couples, so obviously it was a _thing_. And he’s really confused because he doesn’t really want the sex part, but he wants everything else about a relationship. He wants to be able to laugh with a partner and cuddle and maybe kiss them?

But he can’t so much as hold a person’s hand without manipulating their emotions. How was he supposed to handle a relationship like that? He wanted physical contact so badly, but he knew he couldn’t let anyone near him. And even if by some miracle he found a way to overcome that obstacle, his partner would be expecting something from him he couldn’t give them. Besides, who knew what kind of effect his powers would have on a partner during sex, anyway? No, it would be much better for him to forget the idea of dating altogether.

He throws himself into the war effort even harder.

One day when he comes home from a particularly successful mission, Lacy and Drew are back in Cabin 10. At first he was really excited Lacy was back. They’d be able to hang out together as friends and he’d be able to put all those confusing thoughts about relationships behind him. But even Lacy talked about cute people from her school and the knot in his stomach grew. He continued to withdraw into himself, starting to feel unsafe in his family again.

Luckily for him, it wasn’t long before Leo Valdez opened fire on a Roman forum and officially started a war between the two camps. It made Camp Half-Blood very busy – preparing for war on the off-chance the Seven wouldn’t find a way to resolve everything before everyone died. Mitchell didn’t like the thought of killing more fellow demigods, but he’s done it before and would do it again if he had to.

Roman forces build on the east coast, and Camp Half Blood strengthens their own. The air is tense for days between the two, never knowing when the first shot will be fired. No one’s sure how it starts but it does and it’s quickly a bloody mess with losses on both sides. Mitchell can hardly keep up with these Roman soldiers, and has to rely mostly on defense to keep himself alive. It seemed obvious that the Greeks were outmatched – the Romans were fighters through and through. It would take a miracle to get them out of this.

And then Nico and Reyna arrived with the Athena Parthanos. For just a moment, the fighting stopped. And Mitchell couldn’t help but laugh. **Once again, Nico di Angelo had made such a badass entrance that the war stopped dead in its tracks.** A Roman took advantage of this distraction, and tried to strike Mitchell down. Mitchell was injured, but continued to fight for a while. He could hear a lot of yelling, and he knew that Nico and the Roman girl were trying to break up the fight, but once he started losing blood his memory became shaky.

He woke up back in the medical tent in Camp Half-Blood. He stared at the canvas roof over his head and he realized his wound could have killed him. And back at the Battle of Manhattan too, he could have died then. What about that nearly-fatal wound he had at the Battle of Zeus’ Fist? There were countless smaller times it could have happened too…. and if he HAD died there, what kind of life would he have lived? He’d been miserable most of his life, and he’d done absolutely nothing to try and change it. He’d just followed orders and the social norms established before he arrived. He did this to keep himself safe, but where did that get him? He’d almost died three times in the two years he’d been at Camp Half-Blood. Any amount of safety he felt from sticking with the Aphrodite pack was only superficial. What was the point if he felt miserable and closeted for the rest of his short life?

So right there in the tent, **he made a vow to become honest with himself**. He’d stop shoving down his instincts when they told him that something was wrong, and he’d start doing things that he’d like to do because he just liked to do them. No matter _what_ other people thought of him.

Still, old habits die hard. As soon as Mitchell was better and confronted with his cabin mates again, he fell straight back his regular routine with them. Now he’s frustrated with himself about going back on his word and he’s questioning why he can’t just DO this sort of stuff like other people can.

So he starts small. He’ll be honest with his feelings in something that won’t matter in the long run – **he’ll complement a stranger**. He praises the hair of one of the Apollo girls. When he is genuinely impressed by something, he says so. He starts looking for the beauty in people he’s never seen before, and then stating it to them. Occasionally people think he’s hitting on them or up to something, but on the whole he starts to feel people’s moods take sharp turns for the better. He gets to see how being honest can impact so many people in so many small ways that add up. It starts to build his courage and his self esteem. He visits his tattoo artist again to get a matching white dragon design on his right arm – almost mirrored around his arm, save for the tail, which floats freely under the dragon’s head. Instead of restraint and protection, this one represents truth and the strength to face things head on.

With his shiny new tattoo to back up his resolve, he couldn’t _not_ take the next step to being more honest with himself. He needed something that had more weight than just complementing a person on the street. He needed to make himself vulnerable to someone just to prove that he would survive the experience. But it was way too scary to come out as a nerd or admit he didn’t feel any sexual attraction.

So he picked the confession that seemed the least scary – **thanking Nico di Angelo** for saving his life so many times. Like complementing strangers, he didn’t actually know Nico. So even if Nico reacted badly, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But he _wanted_ to make a good impression. It was the first time Mitchell would be talking to such an important demigod outside of a mission, and Nico was… well… _pretty cool_. It didn’t end well, but Mitchell survived. He’s strong enough to take rejection. It hurt, but he’ll be able to stand up and continue to move forward.


	7. Mitchell is (mildly) terrified of Percy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reason Mitchell is mildly terrified of Percy.

So, the day Mitchell Kadar arrives in Camp, Annabeth stumbles back into Camp sobbing about Mt. St. Helens erupting and how Percy Jackson (along with Grover and Tyson) was missing. Silena, who was supposed to be Mitchell’s mentor, spent a lot of time consoling Annabeth. He could feel the camp’s unease at losing one of the Big Three, and he could tell that Percy was someone important.

Two weeks later, Percy Jackson shows up to his own funeral. After that, there’s nonstop training for an imminent battle. The next time Percy is at camp, he’s got Kronos’ army right behind him.

Then it’s nonstop missions to prepare for the final battle – the Battle of Manhattan. Percy is invincible, leading the whole camp, and covering whole flanks and flying pigs all by himself.

Percy is power. He is a hero that will save the day and brave enough to back-talk to the gods. It’s obvious he’s special – he gets so _much_ leeway, he has so _much_ power, it’s ridiculous – and it’s obvious that the Fates have his life planned out A to Z. 

Percy is danger. Everywhere the boy goes, he brings a fight along with him. Whether because of his temper or if the Fates just hate him, he’s always tangled up in the gods’ plans and fighting for his life. If he’s nearby, your life is in immediate danger. Nowhere is safe when you’re with Percy Jackson.

Percy is condescending. It didn’t escape Mitchell’s notice that Percy had tunnel vision about who he cared about. He was pretty sure Percy didn’t even know that the Aphrodite Cabin even _had_ boys in it. He certainly wasn’t observant enough to notice that Cabin 10 had joined the Demeter cabin after their first mission. He never even tried to give them a second assignment.

Percy is _terrifying._ He’s the perfect mix of powerful, careless, and stubborn with a healthy dash of pride to lead to disaster. He’s a loose cannon ready with a lit fuse, and Mitchell didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him. (Though he did feel a bit better when Annabeth was pointing Percy in the general direction of the enemy.) Ultimately, he was glad that Percy was on their side, but that’s out of fear. And it hasn’t been proven that having Percy on their side was any safer.

There have been several times Leo’s offered to introduce Mitchell to Percy, but Mitchell declines every time. He’s pretty sure Percy is a cool guy and nice to be around, but he doesn’t want to. **He associates Percy with everything he hates about Camp** , and he doesn’t trust himself to be unbiased toward him. Especially after hearing Nico’s story and everything Nico went through.

He can tolerate being polite to Percy for short amounts of time (inevitable since they share members of their social groups) but he really doesn’t want to push past that. He’s not that good at hiding his emotions when they’re as intense as what he feels for Percy.


	8. Mitchell x Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I explain why Mitchell x Nico (dubbed Nichell) is a good ship, in two parts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW frank discussion of how Mitchell's body would theoretically react in sexual situations

**Part one, in response to someone asking why they ship Nichell:**

So Nico, at the moment, doesn’t have a lot of control over his life. He’s been royally screwed over by the gods over and over, and even got pulled into Tartarus. He’s a powerful guy, but a wreck emotionally.

Mitchell is in Aprhodite Cabin. It’s been implied in-text that he’s survived the Battle of Manhattan, and if you go with my headcanon, even the battle of Zeus’ fist only a few weeks after arriving at camp. He knows the toll of war and fighting, but he’s one of the weakest people in camp. He doesn’t have any powers that could help him in a fight, and he doesn’t have much more than the required amount of athleticism.

Because he’s in Aprhodite Cabin, and male, (and asexual), a lot of the other campers dismiss him. He knows a similar kind of exclusion to what Nico felt in Camp, and that can be something they bond over. Both being sexual minorities will probably help Nico understand his sexuality, and Mitchell being more versed in the subject than Jason would be able to ease Nico into the subject when he’s ready.

I see Nico becoming very interested in his appearance as something he COULD control. Mitchell knows all about fashion and how different clothes subconsciously send messages to people and affect their judgments affect others. Giving Nico the ability to control what people think of him – even just a little – can be really empowering, and I think it’ll become something Nico’s genuinely interested in later on.

Though the most powerful point between them though, is Mitchell’s powers of **empathy**. He’ll be able to feel Nico’s emotions, and truly understand the magnitude of what Nico’s going through. It will help him see through Nico’s barriers and point out truths Nico may have been avoiding.

While I don’t personally ship them, I see their friendship getting _painfully_ close to dating. Like that one pair on Scrubs. 

* * *

**Part 2, in response to an ask prompting additional information:**

Even though Mitchell is in Aphrodite, he’s actually a closeted nerd. He followed the crowds in Cabin 10 until he met Piper because that was safer, and it ensured that he had friends in an otherwise uninviting world. Not only were the monsters terrifying, but everyone in the camp instantly made fun of him or dismissed him for the cabin he was in, so obviously he would ban together with the people who were also being discriminated against.

But after the end of BoO, Mitchell decides that after surviving _**two** _wars being as strong as a mortal it really wasn’t worth it to live an unhappy life just to be “safe”. Slowly, he starts becoming more open about it. This would be around the time he meets Nico.

Mitchell has a huge inferiority complex. Not only is he weak compared to the other campers, he’s a pushover within his own cabin. Even before he came to Camp, his older brothers picked on him for not having a consistent appearance, abused his empathy powers, and blame him for their (mortal) mother leaving. Mitchell has never been important or of note, as far as he’s concerned, just sort of _there_. Surviving in the background. He’s never met his mother, nor does he really desire to or think she would bother with seeing him. (He’s a bit too self-absorbed to have noticed Hestia, though. Nico’s still the only one who saw her.)

But the thing is, being in the background like that, he **_saw_ **Nico. Nico has saved his life _three times_ — once at the Battle of Zeus’s Fist, again at the Battle of Manhattan (I headcanon that Aphrodite cabin was fighting with Demeter’s at the time), and the third is when Nico brings back the Athena Parthanos.

It’s not _only_ Nico that did any of these things, but he sure did leave an impression on Mitchell. They’re the same age. Mitchell didn’t have a crush on Nico or anything, but he could see _exactly_ how vital Nico was to winning each of those situations. And Nico needs someone like that — someone who isn’t going to give all that attention to Percy or Jason.

(Actually I have this headcanon where Mitchell is kind of sort of _terrified_ of Percy haha but that’s a different topic.)

At first, Mitchell and Nico’s relationship would start out as teacher and student, both in the subjects of fashion and sexuality, but Nico is a fast learner and they would be equals very quickly. It helps that they never speak down to each other, and generally regard each other as equals anyways. In return, Nico can help with Mitchell’s combat skills.

Mitchell also has a lot of repressed anger — he’s been doing it as long as he can remember. Anger is scary and gets people hurt. And when Mitchell is angry, he can pinpoint exactly what will hurt the most for the victim to hear and shove a knife in it. Not many people would be able to survive this sort of verbal onslaught, but I’m not sure he could say anything to Nico that Nico hasn’t already thought about himself. He can take Mitchell’s anger, and can ride it out with him.

I think once they start getting past each other’s barriers, they’ll just _click_. Nico is very affectionate to people he cares about, so they’ll just end up hanging out all the time (with matching outfits), and Mitchell will introduce him to all the new cool TV shows and they’ll end up being total dorks together with a lot of casual touching. (Because both of them have touch as a love language.) 

I see Nico being really respectful of Mitchell’s asexuality after the first few awkward questions, and even though Mitchell is ridiculously attractive, he wouldn’t make a move. I think a romantic relationship between them _could_ work, especially with Nico’s 40’s mentality, but ultimately I think Nico would want sex and he doesn’t want to pressure Mitchell about it.

As I’ve continued exploring Mitchell as a character, however, I’ve realized that while he’s not _attracted_ to sex, he does have the ability to enjoy it. Because of his Empathy, his emotional body is a whole lot more sensitive than his physical body is, and if his partner is _really_ into what they’re doing, he’s enjoying it just as much. Emotions are **_intense_ **for him, especially strong emotions like anger or the ones you can feel during sex. He’ll reflect the partner’s enthusiasm point-for-point, and the physical sensations are a bonus. (Though sex with an uninterested partner or masturbation doesn’t really do much for him.)

While I still ship Mitchell with Leo first, Nico is always right behind. Like, I’ve joked about Mitchell and Nico dating so many times and they’re so perfect together that Leo gets jealous of their relationship once in a while even though I play them queerplatonically. They go on not-dates. (They’re totally dating they’re just in denial about it.)


	9. Mitchell x Leo; Nico x Mitchell x Leo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Why do you ship Mitchell x Leo over Mitchell x Nico?"

Honestly, I ship them about the same. And for remarkably similar reasons. Nico and Leo are very similar characters under the surface, and they’re drawn to Mitchell because of it.

Shipping Leoell started by accident while I was writing an early Mitchell post. From a meta standpoint, **I had already determined in my head that Nichell would be a fiercely strong queerplatonic relationship.** (Plus I I already had it bad for Jasicoper so when I thought I’d never be doing anything with this character ever again, I didn’t have a reason to try and conflict my ships.)

Ultimately the reason I don’t ship Nichell _more_ than Leoell is because of this line from that original conversation: 

> Basically my thoughts with Mitchell and Nico are PLATONIC LIFE PARTNERS. (Nico is too sexual for Mitchell, and Mitchell is too emotionally needy for Nico’s wanderlust. So I don’t see dating working between them.)

Now the details have changed a bit since then, but the core is still the same. I hadn’t quite understood Mitchell’s sexuality by this point, and I think that they’d be able to work that out with enough communication. But I still see Nico being a wanderer after the events of HoO, and I see Mitchell as a person who likes to stay in one place, with a need for constant affection, and Nico can’t fulfill that role as constantly as he’d like.

So, having already ruled out Nichell in my mind, there was room for Leoell to slide right in behind it. (Literally, the post goes STRAIGHT from talking about Nico to Leo. There wasn’t much recovery time there.)

I don’t think I thought about the similarities between Nico and Leo when I first wrote the post, I just intuitively sensed that Mitchell would get along with Leo, and I wanted to play with it. 

On the surface level, **the two of them just have endless creativity.** They’re great at bouncing ideas off of each other, and creating things that are functional and beautiful and cool. You really couldn’t get a better pair of inventors (except maybe if _both_ parties did work instead of Mitchell never ever doing anything but talk to Leo). 

They’re both geeks and love talking about the latest movies and watching old, bad ones just because they’re bad and laughing at stupid jokes (Mitchell laughs at most of Leo’s jokes and Leo just adores him for it).

But Mitchell isn’t the kind of person who can’t keep things on a surface level. He _feels_ too deeply for that. He’s going to dig. Thus…

 **Mitchell and Leo share similar feelings of powerlessness** , and that instantly draws them together on an energetic level. But Mitchell is (with Nico’s help) questioning this belief about himself, and wants to better himself. He can see how great Leo is when he stops doubting himself, and wants Leo to be able to see it too. He can only tolerate Leo running away from himself for so long before snapping and forcing Leo to confront the parts of himself he doesn’t like. It’s going to be hard and painful, but he’s going to come out of it a lot more self-confident and happier about himself. He doesn’t have to face those demons alone.

Mitchell is a person who needs constant attention, and Leo is a somewhat obsessive lover and would be able to fill that need, so long as Mitchell returned it in kind (which he can). It’s not the healthiest relationship, but it’s what they need at the moment to feel like they’re loved. But obsessive love takes a lot of energy. Leo’s going to tire of it really fast if he’s not getting any energy back (he will be, but it probably won’t be perceived as equal), and this is a potential for causing a rift between them. 

Honestly, **between Leo and Nico, Mitchell has all of his needs met.** Neither quite do it on their own – Nico can’t make Mitchell laugh like Leo can, and Leo doesn’t like thinking deeply about things like Mitchell does with Nico – and it’s only because Mitchell is allowed to have his queerplatonic relationship with Nico that Leoell is even _working_. 

**The solution? Ship Nichelleo.**

It’s no secret that I like OT3s. Polyamory is something I want to practice writing, and is really the solution to any shipping problems. (I could even have Jasicoper and Nichelleo _at the same time!_ )

They really balance each other out, though. With Mitchell in common, it gives Leo and Nico something to talk about, and start to get to know each other. Both of them would benefit a lot from realizing how similar they are to each other.

Nico wouldn’t hesitate to call Leo out on his obsessive behavior, and Leo can take care of Mitchell when Nico wanders off. Mitchell can get his creative needs met by Leo and his philosophical (and fashionable) needs met with Nico. (And if Nico’s going out with Jason too, then he’s got his sexual needs covered too.)

Polyamory would really challenge Leo’s thinking too, and force him to start paying attention to his feelings and _communicate_ with Mitchell and Nico. (Something he’s really bad at when it comes to feelings. Nico’s not that much better, but hey! that’s something that they can learn together.) And I think he’ll come out a better person for it.

So there’s really no downside to Nichelleo.

Whelp, looks like I ship that too!


	10. Wingman Lacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "imagine lacy being mitchell's wing man for nico"

I don’t particularly see Mitchell _needing_ Lacy as a wingman when it comes to Nico. As I explained before, Mitchell working up the courage to talk to Nico was less about Nico (and Mitchell’s feelings of admiration), and more about Mitchell having the courage to admit such a thing.

Mitchell never had thoughts about dating Nico, and if it were to ever happen it would be because they’ve spent a good long time with each other and the feelings developed naturally. (In my own head, they don’t even realize they’re dating until months after the fact. They both have other primary partners by then.)

But you asked about Lacy, so let’s talk about her.

Lacy tries to be as supportive as she can. Back during Mitchell and Nico’s first meeting, she thought Mitchell had a crush just the same as the rest of her siblings. She tried to console Mitchell after his “rejection” and suggested both ways to move on and win Nico over. She wants her brother to be happy — whoever he might end up with! Though she wasn’t sure whether to believe him when he said that he _didn’t_ actually ask Nico out. She at least understood that he wanted the subject dropped, and didn’t talk about it.

Then Mitchell came running back from a shopping trip with an armful of brochures about sexual minorities — he was so giddy! He couldn’t wait to tell Lacy all about asexuality and come out to her. She needed a crash course on what it meant, and he explained the best he could (he only talked with a couple college students hosting an LGBT event). She didn’t get it right away, but she accepted him. She couldn’t not with how happy having a label made him. 

She stopped asking questions that implied being sexually attracted to people, and they only talked about how cute people were if it were objective. Sometimes she slips up, but she does her best and he appreciates it.

Although I don’t see a situation where she’d need to be a wingman yet, I think Lacy would be a good one! She loses all her timidness when asking questions for other people, so she’d be able to break the ice really easily (in potentially embarrassing ways haha). She’d also listen Mitchell’s input and won’t push if he doesn’t want it.

In the end, she’s just a really supportive sister that Mitchell considers himself lucky to have in his life. 


	11. Salt: Aphrodite Cabin in Battle of Manhattan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got really upset about how RR treats Cabin 10, and went on an all-caps rant about it.

**My original post:**

> I refuse to see Cabin 10 members as one-dimentionally as RR writes them but by god am I pissed that he writes as if the Second Great Titan War didn’t affect them.

**Tags on a reblog:**

> #i’d like to think that they’re hiding behind a facade of preppy happiness and shit but i’d be lying to myself #rr wrote about them poorly 

**My response:**

THAT’S THE ONLY WAY I CAN COPE TBH

I’m just

so mad

HE SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS THAT THERE’S ONLY ABOUT FOURTY CAMPERS FIGHTING IN THE BATTLE OF MANHATTAN

GOES OUT OF HIS WAY TO MENTION THAT SIX OF THEM ARE APHRODITE GIRLS (APART FROM SILENA)

AND THEN USES THEM FOR A SHOPPING JOKE AND THEN NOT APPEAR UNTIL EXACTLY TWO HUNDRED PAGES LATER AT SILENA’S FUNERAL

THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE HID IN THE SHOPPING DISTRICT FOR ALL THE DIFFERENCE THEY MADE

IN FACT

THAT IS MY HEADCANON

SILENA IS TOO DISTRAUGHT FROM BEKENDORF’S DEATH TO BE ALL THAT GOOD AS A LEADER

DREW IS THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED THEY STOP ON FIFTH AVENUE

WHY?

HER FATHER OWNS A STORE THERE

IT’S A WHOLE FLOOR

SHE TRIES TO GET EVERYONE TO STAY OUT OF THE WAR

LET THE DEMIGODS WHO CAN ACTUALLY FIGHT TAKE CARE OF IT

BUT OF COURSE THIS ISN’T GONNA SIT WELL WITH _ALL_ OF THEM

SO THE GROUP SPLITS IN TWO

LACY HIDES WITH DREW

MITCHELL GOES TO FIGHT

THE APHRODITE KIDS WHO HID ACTUALLY DON’T GET CAUGHT ‘CAUSE SILENA MADE SURE THAT NO ENEMIES WENT NEAR THEM

MITCHELL’S PERIODICALLY CHECKING IN W/ LACY AND UPDATING THEM ABOUT THE SITUATION

ABOUT HOW SILENA DISAPPEARS AND HOW THEY’VE JOINED THE DEMETER CABIN

ABOUT HOW BADLY THEY’RE HOLDING UP

EVENTUALLY ABOUT SILENA’S DEATH

AND THAT’S WHAT GETS DREW MOVING TO ACTION

LIKE I SAID BEFORE, SHE AND SILENA HAD A SPECIAL CONNECTION AND SHE IS SO PISSED THAT SHE WAS WRONG ABOUT HER

SO SHE GOES TO FIGHT, LEADING THE REST OF HER CABIN LIKE THE NEW BADASS BOSS SHE IS

SHE MAKES KRONOS’S ARMY RUN WITHOUT LIFTING A FINGER

WHEN SHE GETS THERE SHE DOESN’T PHYSICALLY FIGHT – SHE AND A LOT OF OTHERS ARE TREATING PEOPLE’S WOUNDS

THEY WERE RUNNING OUT OF NECTAR AND AMBROSIA

THE REST OF THE CABIN EITHER FIGHTS OR TREATS WOUNDS DEPENDING ON THEIR SKILL SET

LACY’S TEETH ARE DESTROYED IN A FIGHT WITH A MONSTER AND WHEN THEY GROW BACK THEY’RE CROOKED 

AND THAT’S HOW SHE GOT BRACES

ALSO THAT’S P MUCH MY ENTIRE BATTLE OF MANHATTAN FIC WHOOPSIES


	12. Fic: Mitchell and Josef 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Backstory fic: Mitchell's brother Josef tries to get Mitchell to use his powers to make Josef feel better after a break-up. Mitchell is starting to think that isn't a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally written because an RP I was doing at the time required me to write one of Mitchell's traumatic memories. Takes place when Mitchell is 11 and the year is 2006.
> 
> CW for explicit emotional child abuse and generally violent, manipulative behavior. It's all angst, so feel free to sit this one out.

“Fuck! You can’t be doing this to me!”

Mitchell opened his door a crack. Josef paced the living room, his hand tugged at his curled hair, probably knotting it even more than it already was. 

“I mean– C'mon, babe,” he pleaded. “Just one more chance to make it up to you? I promise–” His shoulders squared and his nostrils flared as he shouted, “Fine! At least I would have had the decency to break up with you in person!”

Mitchell flinched as Josef threw the phone at the couch. The floor must have creaked or the doorknob jingled or something, because a second later Josef was staring right at him with wild eyes.

A grin spread across Josef’s face, “Hey there, Mitch. Didn’t realize you were there.”

His words were candy-coated, but that didn’t fool Mitchell anymore. He couldn’t pretend that tone meant he was loved. “Jessica broke up with you?”

“Yeah… yeah she did,” Josef said airily, walking toward Mitchell and bending down to his level. “Do you know what this means?”

Mitchell held the doorknob with a vice grip. “I’m not using my powers for you.”

“Woah, woah,” Josef held his hands up. “When did I say anything about that? I was just thinking we could go get some icecream. Maybe go see that new X-Men movie. My treat.”

Mitchell’s grip loosened, almost tempted by the bribe. Then he solidified his resolve, shouted “No!” and slammed the door.

Or _tried_ to slam the door. Josef stopped the door in its tracks and held it open, his anger flaring to the surface again. “What’s _with_ you lately?” He asked, grabbing the front of Mitchell’s hoodie. “It’s like you’re turning against us. Is that what’s happening here?”

“No!” Mitchell said quickly, trying to squirm out of his grip. “My powers are bad for you–”

“Who told you that? Your friend?”

Blood pounded in Mitchell’s ears. “Leave Dan out of this!”

“Look,” Joseph smiled, ticking that bushy mustache he was so proud of off to one side as he put a hand on both of Mitchell’s shoulders. “Me and Adam? We’re adults. We know what’s good for us and what’s not. And it’s pretty clear that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us. Dan don’t know shit.”

Emotions buzzed through Mitchell’s body. Fear. Confusion. Hope. Temptation. Worry. He wasn’t sure which he felt the most but the word that summed it up best was: _Wrong._

“So why don’t we just…”

Josef reached for Mitchell’s face, and an overwhelming panic surged within him. “No!” Mitchell screeched, dropping to the floor and bringing his arms up over his head.

“Mitchell!” Josef pried Mitchell’s arms away from his face. “We’re _brothers. Family._ If family don’t look out for each other, then who _can_ we trust? We depend on you to keep this house together. Adam needs you. _I_ need you. Please.”

Mitchell’s stomach squirmed. He was pretty sure some of Josef’s desperation was seeping through his sleeves. He wanted to help Josef. He wanted to help him so badly, tears were welling up in his eyes. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t think of anything happy right now – all that came to mind was every time Josef broke something in a fit of rage. Every time he got in a fight with their father or come home bruised only to shout at someone else.

“Y-You weren’t this violent a few years ago.” It had to be because of his powers.

Josef’s face fell, his emotions lulling to a dangerous calm. He shoved Mitchell to the ground without warning, and stood up. “God, why can’t I be good enough for you?! You’re just like dad!” Mitchell gasped as his side was kicked, but that didn’t satisfy Josef. “No– you’re worse! Actually pretending to care, offering a way out, and then just holding it back whenever you please!”

“N-No, I–”

“Fine! I’ll show you– I don’t need you!” Josef grabbed his phone and jacket. “I have friends. More dangerous ones. So just remember if I end up in a ditch somewhere, it’s all your fault.”

“Wait, I–”

Josef slammed the door on his way out.


	13. Fic: Mitchell and Josef 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell discovers that his appearance-changing powers don't cover tattoos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notes from the original post:** "Somehow driving 15 hours to a family reunion made me think ‘hey, let’s maybe show that Mitchell’s brothers weren’t horrible ALL of the time’. And then I wrote this while mom took a nap in a parking lot.
> 
> Mitchell is 11/12 years old."
> 
> CW: Tattooing a child, references to drugs, mild transphobia near the end

Josef’s nose itched. He sniffed and swated at it, but the feeling persisted until he forced his eyes open. Mitchell was standing next to his bed, a pencil in his hand. (He had been poking Josef in the nose to wake him up again, no doubt.)

Josef looked at his alarm and groaned. “Mitch, it’s 5 AM. Can’t this wait?”

“It'sstillthere,” his brother’s words tumbled out of his mouth.

“What’s still where?”

“The tattoo.”

Josef jolted up with a start. “What? What tattoo?”

Mitchell turned around and lifted his shirt. There , on his lower back, was a simple design of a dragon.

Josef swore. “I _told_ Nelson not to– When did this happen?”

“When you and dad were at work last night.” Mitchell pulled his shirt down and wrung the hem. “We thought… 'cause my face changes a lot…”

Josef sighed, patting the spot on the bed next to him. “I know, Mitch. It’s not your fault.”

To be honest, it was an idea that had been a long time coming. Adam had let slip Mitchell’s… _condition_ one night with Nelson when the three of them were high, and someone jokingly threw out the idea of using Mitchell as practice for Nelson’s future career at a tattoo parlor. A person who could become a blank canvas again would be the perfect tattoo guinea pig. Josef tried to shut down the idea whenever it came up, but it looked like they just decided to go behind his back instead of heeding his warning.

Mitchell crawled up onto the bed, and Josef draped his blanket around Mitchell’s head and shoulders before wrapping him in a hug. “Sorry I wasn’t around to stop them, Mitch.”

Mitchell shook his head. “I said they could.” His face went beet-red as Josef groaned, and stammered, “W-well I wanted to help Nelson, and I thought it’d be gone by now–”

“Mitchell, you are _such_ a pushover.” Josef rubbed his face. “I am gonna _kill_ those two–”

“No! It’s just…” Mitchell blushed.

“Just?”

“…It hurts.” Mitchell admitted. “It kind of feels like it’s burning right now.”

Josef frowned. “Pull up your shirt – I’ll be right back.”

In the bathroom he soaked a cloth in cold water and stared at the faucet. What if the stupid thing never went away? Mitchell couldn’t hide having a tattoo forever. He could be exposed with a single gym class. And _dad_ … Josef almost didn’t want to be there when he finds out what Adam did. Hell would be raised.

Wringing out the washcloth, he brought it back to Mitchell and draped it over the tattoo. Mitch hissed, with a couple of strained breaths before starting to calm down again.

“How about this,” Josef said, sitting next to Mitchell. “I’ll call in sick to work and blackmail Nelson into getting the creams or whatever you need to take care of that tattoo. You pretend to go to school, but double back here after dad leaves for work. Then we can get you some tank tops to cover it up when you change for gym.

Mitchell’s face lit up. "Can they be _cute_ tank tops?!”

Josef grimaced and said, “We’ll see what they have,” while making a mental note to stick to mens-wear stores only.


	14. Josef and Adam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thinking more deeply and Mitchell's brothers and diving into who they are as people and why they are like they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for reference to drugs.

I’ve been thinking about Mitchell’s mortal brothers recently.

I don’t like to see my characters as one-dimensional if I can help it – especially when it comes to antagonist figures. Mitchell’s brothers are abusers, but they’re people too. They have good _and_ bad moments, and though Mitchell doesn’t forgive them for what they’ve done there’s a part of him that still loves them and cares about what happens to them. When he was younger, he even looked up to them and felt like they all loved each other.

Thanks to the de-aged!Mitchell RP I’m about to get started on, I’ve been looking at Mitchell’s brothers from a new perspective – how Mitchell saw them when he was age 10. And I’ve made a lot of new observations about the two of them and who they are, ones that I know little 10 year old Mitchell either can’t say or wouldn’t say.

So this is me, getting all those new thoughts out.

I’ve talked quite a bit about Mitchell’s brothers before, but I’ve mostly focused on **Josef Kadar** – the eldest brother. I’ve even written a couple of fics with him in it. He’s the most confident and outgoing of the brothers – after their (mortal) mother left, he had to be the one to step up to the plate and take care of his younger brothers. At the time, Mitchell was only a baby. This made Josef grow up quickly. Unfortunately, he really didn’t have the temperament for that kind of responsibility, and he spent many of Mitchell’s formative years complaining loudly and ganging up on Mitchell with Adam and picking on him as a way to vent his frustration and anger.

As he grew older, Josef began to see himself as the alpha-male of the house, as his father was nearly always working to support the four of them. Josef developed a strong us-vs-them mentality with his father, and instills that in his siblings as well. They start keeping secrets from their father, and the escalating tension between Josef and their father often escalated to shouting matches.

Of his two brothers, Mitchell feels more comfortable talking to Josef. Once Josef matured he became protective of Mitchell and Adam, and could be sympathetic to Mitchell’s worries. He is also a man of action, and would always find a way to move forward with a plan, even if the situation was demigod-bizarre. However, Josef is a passionate person and he was terrifying when he was upset. Things would be broken, and Mitchell might get hurt.

The person Mitchell associated with safety was simultaneously the most dangerous in his family. As you can imagine, this didn’t give Mitchell much _actual_ security growing up. Instead, he had **Adam Kadar** , the ultimate escapist. 

Adam is the youngest-turned-middle child, and I haven’t said much about him before. Only today did I realize that it was because he simply _wasn’t there_. Even if he was in the same room, he’d be listening to music or playing on a gameboy or simply disassociating and tuning everyone out. But often, he _wouldn’t_ be in the same room. He’d get up and leave – either to his room or a friend’s house, and live in his own little bubble of reality until he deemed it safe to come out. Which was rare, because if he wasn’t avoiding another Josef-Dad feud he would be running from his responsibility and living in general.

Both of the brothers blamed Mitchell for their mother leaving, but Adam took this to heart much more than Josef did. His ‘youngest’ title was taken from him, and he was much too young to see that his parents’ marriage was falling apart even before the strange baby came along. This lead to a lot of teasing and picking on him – it made him feel powerful and in control of something (which is something he feels he desperately lacks in his life). He was also the first one to notice Mitchell’s empathy powers and experiment with them.

Adam’s morals were always looser than what was socially acceptable, but he never really saw the problem with dragging his seven year old brother to hand out with his friends as they got high. They were getting away from the yelling, so anything was an improvement, right? He was also more fond of emotionally manipulating Mitchell to get what he wanted. Josef was already instilling a strong familial bond between the three of them, and Adam was easily able to twist those ideas to suit his own needs. (Mainly, making Mitchell use his powers to escape his own emotions and feelings of powerlessness.)

To Mitchell, Adam was the person that was able to pull him out of dangerous situations. And he could repay that kind of saving with making Adam’s inner demons go quiet for a little while, right?

To be clear, _both_ Josef and Adam abused Mitchell’s empathy powers and used him for their own gain. It just so happens that Adam’s use was more prominent. Both of their actions heavily influenced who Mitchell became, and how he interacts with others.


	15. Mitchell and Asexuality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Collection of Mitchell headcanons that center around Mitchell's asexuality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was in response to someone asking me for more Mitchell headcanons. 
> 
> Contains brief mentions on Mitchell's relationship to sex in addition to his lack of relationship to it.

HOW APPROPRIATE YOU ASK ABOUT MITCHELL KADAR DURING ASEXUALITY AWARENESS WEEK LET ME SHARE SOME ACE HEADCANONS ABOUT APHRODITE CABIN’S OWN MITCHELL:

  * He found out about asexuality on his way home from getting his second tattoo - a nearby school was having a pride awareness week and realized the asexuality panels described him to a T
  * He took as many brochures as possible and excitedly showed Lacy as soon as he got back to camp
  * It wasn’t long after that Mitchell realized?? There was no MOGII support at their GREEK camp?? What the heck is this THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE
  * So he gathers some other MOGII-minded campers and tries to get support from the rest of camp to start a group and he does it in an “ASEXUALITY EXISTS” shirt



I feel like I’ve discussed these all before tho hmm

  * Mitchell is a panromantic asexual who is sex-neutral
  * He’s willing to have sex with his partner but only if his partner is enthusiastic about it (Mitchell is in it 100% for the emotional experience that comes along with sex - which is only amplified by his empathy powers)
  * But really he’d rather just cuddle and talk about X-Men or Battlestar Galatica
  * Which is usually what he does tbh
  * It’s amazing how much time there is for emotionally satisfying activities when sex is a low-to-nonexistant priority 
  * He and Nico go on not-dates where they shop for clothes and talk for five hours ‘cause they only do it once or twice a month
  * (it’s totally a date don’t listen to them)
  * Mitchell is very vocal about his asexuality because he doesn’t want people to feel like they’re all alone ever again
  * Aromantic people end up coming to Mitchell for advice too which he’s very ??? about because he is asexual but not aromantic but he’s sure to be SUPER SUPPORTIVE because EVERYBODY rocks and deserves to feel safe and appreciated at camp for who they are and he specifically goes out and researches them so he can give the best support he can possibly give




	16. Aromantic Aphrodite Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: "*whispers* aromantic aphrodite children"

yES GODS.

I can’t even imagine how at odds they’d feel in their cabin. I already talked about how secluded Mitchell felt as an asexual in Cabin 10, and I imagine it’d be even MORE so for the aro kids because ‘what the actual heck you’re the children of LOVE and you can’t love anyone??’ and would probably be really nervous about coming out. 

LUCKILY FOR EVERYONE I REFUSE TO LET CHB STAY IN IT’S STEREOTYPED HETERONORMATIVE STATUS QUO AFTER BOO

Mitchell ends up banding together with a bunch of other queer demigods to make an LGBT Club (and really Mr-God-Of-Transsexuals-Mr-D you should have had one already), and make the atmosphere in CHB a lot more open.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare ends up becoming sort of like the Camp’s RA – she’s the only one who can use the internet, but she’s rich and can order things like condoms and dental dams in bulk (offered for free at the edge of her cave). She’s the one people go to to ask about stuff they’re not sure about and if she doesn’t know she’ll look it up.

RACHEL WILL BECOME UNIVERSAL CAMP COOL MOM MOVE ASIDE CHIRON THERE HAVE BEEN MEN IN CHARGE FOR TOO LONG

So with these changes in atmosphere there will be more safe spaces for more identities and our aro kids can live without judgement /o/

bECAUSE REALLY THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO LOVE THAN JUST ~ROMANCE~ GOD THAT DRIVES ME UP THE WALL GIVE ME FRIENDSHIP AND FAMILIAL LOVE OVER ROMANCE ANY DAY

OUR AROMANTIC APHRODITE KIDS WILL SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE NONE OF THAT CONDITIONAL ~TILL DEATH TILL WE PART~ CRAP IT’LL JUST BE YOU AND THEM AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF CUDDLES AND FAVORITE MOVIES AND FASHION SHOWS. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANYONE LESS FABULOUS. 


	17. Reyna and Thalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In response to an ask, I answer what it would be like for Mitchell to meet Reyna and Thalia.

Oh man I just realized I never thought about Mitchell meeting Thalia or Reyna before THIS MUST BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY.

[after some thinking]

Okay, so, I don’t see much that Mitchell and Reyna would have in common prior to his coming to New Rome, unless she decides to talk to him like Jason does in his not-therapy sessions. But I don’t really see that — I’m sure New Rome has their own therapists that would be better suited than Mitchell, so Mitchell and Reyna have a polite relationship through the shared friend of Nico.

UNTIL Mitchell goes to New Rome, which I see as almost inevitable in his future. Either he’ll be using the New Rome education system, or he’ll be an ambassador of Camp Half Blood. (He’d be much happier with the former, but his going into that would hinge on whether he has to serve additional years in CJ’s army — he is SICK of war and fighting and would rather take his chances in in a mortal school on his own than willingly sign up for war again.)

Then, Mitchell and Reyna would be exposed to each other a lot more often. Still not an _amazing_ amount, but knowing somebody in a new environment can be CRITICAL to being able to adjust, and having someone he can fall back on means the world to Mitchell. — He’s not afraid to ask questions if he really needs help, and really appreciates the fact she gave him a tour of New Rome when he first came even though he knows she’s busy. 

(Also while we’re on the subject of New Rome, Mitchell simply BLOSSOMS under the New Rome education system that’s both tailored to demigods and following more closely to the standard american system. He’s finally able to start pushing himself and finds out HEY HE ACTUALLY HAS AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE?? AND HE’S ACTUALLY _SMART_?? THIS IS A BRAND NEW FEELING FOR HIM)

so tl;dr Mitchell and Reyna have a distant but polite relationship that strengthens once he comes to New Rome.

Now THALIA. (gods, as if this wasn’t long enough, right?)

God, I don’t even know a scenario where the’d meet? I’m guessing he’d get introduced as Jason’s boyfriend’s not-boyfriend. I imagine Thalia being really loud and hands-on with Mitchell because she’s already accepted him as one of her gang and that means teasing and touching (the touching might make Mitchell nervous at first depending on the stage of his emotional development), but she’s just so CONFIDENT and easygoing he easily feeds off of that feeling and rises to the challenge and by the end of the night they’re laughing at stupid jokes and whacking each other in the arms even though Mitchell would totally bruise if his powers allowed it to show.

So they have a pleasant impression of each other — even though Thalia’s pretty sure that she could bench-press ten of him and not break a sweat. I’m not sure she’s wrong.


	18. Mitchell and dfab!Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "please can we imagine mitchell bonding w dfab nico?"

HELLO YES I AM HERE FOR TRANS NICO WITH MITCHELL PREPARE FOR FRIENDSHIP HISTORY HEADCANON RANT

Tbh Mitchell has a lot of gender-related stuff he’s been unlearning from his brothers. He was always gender-nonconforming, and his family decided that was wrong. Luckily, he was able to unlearn most of that stuff when he came to CHB, but it’s still a working process and he’s taking baby steps all the time.

I’m assuming that Nico’s been passing for this long, but has started puberty and it SUCKS and it is getting harder and harder to hide. 

This actually makes it harder for Nico and Mitchell to bond. Because I see their relationship starting out with fashion, and while Nico would love to have help looking better as a man, he’s too scared to let Mitchell close enough to really help him. Mitchell would sense that something was up pretty quickly — possibly as soon as their first meeting. But Mitchell wouldn’t know any details — just the emotions associated with them. Mitchell prods a couple of times, but when Nico keeps deflecting him he’ll stop.

It’s at this point that they’re most at risk of not developing a friendship, because Mitchell requires a lot of emotional openness and honesty. And that isn’t something that Nico’s going to give up any time soon to someone he knows so little.

I see it being a hunch. Mitchell’s waiting for Nico to finish changing, and Mitchell’s just sitting and thinking and then when Nico comes out he’s like, “You know, when I was younger, I really wanted to be a Disney Princess. Actually, I wanted to be Mulan, but one of the official princesses would have been cool too.”

And they start talking about it and then the conversation gradually moves toward gender in general and gender roles and how crap they are and Nico talks a little bit about what it was like in the forties.

Nico doesn’t come out to Mitchell then, but he does end up working toward it a lot faster after that, and Mitchell is horrified to learn that Nico’s been binding with ace bandages and he’s like “No no no that is SUPER UNHEALTHY let me measure you and we’ll make you one that fits and actually lets you breathe.” and “I CANNOT _BELIEVE_ YOU SAVED THE WORLD IN THESE THINGS _NO WONDER YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO DEATH_ ”

Nico loves his new binder and Mitchell helps him get a haircut and with both of those in place it starts to become a whole lot easier for Nico to be confident while shopping for his clothes and while Nico’s able to present more masculine, he’s also supporting Mitchell who’s branching out to be more feminine and together they’re like the best dressed boys in all of camp.

Who will totally whoop your butt at Mythomagic.


	19. Fun Facts pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of fun facts about Mitchell Kadar

-When he was growing up, he adored superhero stories. Particularly X-Men. The Mutants gave him hope that maybe, with his changing face and oversensitve emotions, maybe he was normal _somewhere._ Maybe he was special enough to be a hero.

-Mitchell has a thing for dragons. His first tattoo was of a dragon, and this love has continued to present day. He adores the dragon earrings Leo made him and there are some days they’ll just fanboy over all types of dragons. (That said, Mitchell never ever wants to fight one ever. He’s not stupid. Though he’s friendly with the dragon guarding Thalia’s Pine.)

-Speaking of tattoos, the ones on his arms are personal vows to never let other people abuse his empathy powers ever again. 

-His best friend, since he was ten, was Dan Huang the satyr. Of course, he didn’t know Dan was a satyr until two years later, when he they had to run to CHB. But they were extremely close – Dan was one of the only people from pre-camp life that Mitchell could look back on and say they weren’t emotionally manipulative.

-Mitchell met Dan in French class. Dan couldn’t speak French to save his life. Mitchell was just happy he was finally talented in a subject and he didn’t have to focus super hard through his dyslexia to understand the material.

-Dan died in the Battle of Manhattan.

-Every year around August, Mitchell’s features become Chinese. Argus gives him and Clarisse a ride to Manhattan park to mourn Dan and Silena. Sometimes they talk, and sometimes they don’t. They’re thankful that the other is there, even if they never talk on any other day.

-If Mitchell and Tyson ever had cause to meet, they’d get along very well. Tyson is another person who feels things very deeply, and Mitchell absolutely loves how emotionally honest Tyson is. Some of Mitchell’s favorite days are spent hanging out with Tyson when they’re in a good mood.

-Also I see Tyson having some of the warmest cuddles. What. Don’t look at me like that, both Mitchell and Tyson totally have Touch as one of their love languages ok. Platonic cuddling would totally happen. Even if it cracks Mitchell’s ribs once in a while.

-Mitchell gets the deepest rush of satisfaction when he manages to surprise someone who was underestimating him. 

-Mitchell has never seen Aphrodite, and won’t for quite a long time. This topic stings a little for Mitchell, but not much more than a bug bite. He’s always had a mother-shaped hole in his life, and before Camp he never even considered filling it.


	20. Fun Facts pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A collection of fun facts gathered from various posts.

Fun fact Mitchell’s original last name was supposed to be ‘Kader’ but I typo’d early on and didn’t realize it until months later so yeah his name is Kadar now.

(Laughs because the original one, when you trace it back to its Arabic root ([QADIR](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.behindthename.com%2Fname%2Fqadir&t=YWEwODkwMzEwZWY2NDVmNTkxMzU1NDllOTBmZDhmMDkzMjlmMzU2OSxZYUFUaG92OQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AmNVqMb6s7YjSXw3pLDlmbw&p=https%3A%2F%2Funprofessionalamber.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F85842133356%2Ffun-fact-mitchells-original-last-name-was&m=1)) means 'capable, powerful’ but [KÁDÁR](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fsurnames.behindthename.com%2Fname%2Fka10da10r&t=YjdiYWY3OWJhMzU3NDBjZDYyMmQ0NWIwMDc4NTNjYTFiYmVkMWUzZCxZYUFUaG92OQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AmNVqMb6s7YjSXw3pLDlmbw&p=https%3A%2F%2Funprofessionalamber.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F85842133356%2Ffun-fact-mitchells-original-last-name-was&m=1) is a Hungarian word meaning 'cooper’ or 'a person who made or repaired wooden barrels’)

* * *

> "Is Mitchell a cat or dog person"

My knee-jerk reaction was “cat-person” but I think he enjoys being around dogs too – they have a really great energy around them and there is literally nothing nicer than the energy of a happy dog. Cuddle big dogs for hours. (Mrs. O'Leary is a bit too big though.)

Cats are great because they’re up-front with their feelings and won’t put up with bullshit, and he enjoys this honesty.

Wow I never considered Mitchell an animal person before but their set of emotions are completely different and easier to process than a humans. ~~Mitchell’s gonna be singing “Animals are better than people” within a week of adopting his first pet.~~

* * *

> "Would Mitchell live in a house or apartment "

I think it would depend on who he’s with and how long he plans to live there.

If it was him alone, he’d definitely want an apartment. Less space needed, less space taken. I don’t see him needing more than apartment if he’s living with Leo either. (I don’t see Mitchell and Nico ever living together unless it was very temporary living arrangements.)

Once he’s older and starts getting ready to settle down (with either Leo or a new partner), he might consider getting a house. Extra room for tools and kids, maybe. Maybe he’ll set up a safe house for newbie demigods on their first quests. He’s going to need space for that.

But that’s really far in the future – Mitchell doesn’t even expect to live long enough to go college, let alone have a family!

* * *

> "Can Mitchell sew?"

Yes! It was required training to be an Aphrodite Cabin warrior. It sounds ridiculous, but when you’re on a quest and supplies are limited, you just don’t have the luxury of going to get something new. It might not look the most glamorous, but it’ll get the job done – and if you’re _really_ good you can make it look better than it did before.

He was also taught how to stitch up a wound, in case of a shortage or overuse of ambrosia/nectar. He hasn’t used this skill in either war, but he still remembers how to do it _just in case_.

He always carries a needle and thread on him – especially on quests.

* * *

> Prompt: "If Mitchell were to recommend a haircut for nico..."

Not gonna lie, contrary to my fic that says otherwise, a haircut would be one of Mitchell’s first suggestions on their road to a more self-confident demigod. Hair grows back, so it’s fairly safe to experiment with. Mitchell would have a few suggestions, sure, but this whole re-image process is for _Nico_ , so Nico has to be the one to choose what he wants. Mitchell’s just there to help him follow through with it.

That said – and this is more my own personal opinion than Mitchell’s ‘cause Mitchell’s much more fashionable than I am – I think what they end up going with is an undercut. It matches with Nico’s punk-goth style he’s going for, and shows off the new piercings he got in the above fic. 

* * *

So I keep thinking about mintleaftea’s idea about there being a big musical every year at CHB

And I’m just thinking about Mitchell because of course I am.

I feel like he’d start out backstage on costume duty, but he ends up learning the choreography for all the dance numbers and helps the choreographer make sure everyone knows exactly what they’re doing.

I’m not sure if he ends up subbing for someone last-minute or he just waits until next year, but he definitely ends up on stage and finds out that he loves being in the spotlight. 

This would be a huge step forward for him, as his whole life he’s been hiding who he is and avoided attracting attention to himself – he’s been fighting his inner Aprohodite Child that yearns to shine. 

_#mitchell learning how to be in the spotlight is his entire character arc #how cool is it that there's an opperunity here to make it literal #though i still don't think mitchell would try out for a lead #his self confidence isn't that good_

* * *

**Mitchell:** Do you ever wonder what Celestial Bronze is made of?

**Nico:** …I assume it’s made of bronze?

**Mitchell:** No, but _it doesn’t have the properties of bronze!_ And Imperial Gold _certainly_ doesn’t have the properties of gold! Gold is a really soft metal – it doesn’t work for armor or swords!

**Nico:** Well, it’s a gift from the gods so it makes sense that they’re not the same as earthy metals…

**Mitchell:** I know but _what is it made of?!_ I mean – Bronze is an alloy made up of copper and tin, and Gold has 79 protons! Is it the same for Imperial Gold and Celestial Bronze? Or are they separate elements altogether? Do they even _have_ atoms if they’re made by the gods? How do they exist in our world if they don’t?

**Nico:** …I think you’re thinking about this too hard.

**Mitchell:** hOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF OUR WORLD AND HOW IT FITS INTO SCIENCE??? _I DON’T UNDERSTAND, NICO_.

* * *

> "Do you dislike anyone at camp-halfblood?"

Hello there – I’m Mitchell. Aseies says I’m going to answer this question. (I’d really rather not… it’s such a can of worms but…)

I… really can’t stand Percy Jackson. Please don’t tell him – I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice guy, but I just… I can’t get over how he acts in war. He’s the strongest, so he gets to lead, but he doesn’t think his actions through, and he charges ahead without thinking about the people he represents, and he doesn’t notice the things right in front of his nose. ~~Not to mention the blatant favoritism the gods have for him – even if they claim not to like him~~.

Percy was not a good leader. I don’t feel safe around him – and that feeling only marginally wanes when Annabeth Chase is around. He picks fights too quickly, holds grudges for small things, and never knows when to keep his mouth shut.

I’m not stupid enough to say any of this to him or his friends. Sometimes Leo is hurt when I turn down a chance to meet Percy, but I just can’t risk it. With my powers, there’s no way that Percy won’t be able to find out about my feelings. I like my head where it is, thanks.

* * *

> "How did Lacy and Mitchell become friends?"

**Mitchell:** Lacy arrived at Camp Half-Blood a few weeks after I did. Thankfully, it was _after_ the battle of Zeus’ Fist. Because everyone was so busy and I was the newest, they had me show her the ropes around Camp. (I was still pretty new at the time, so I ended having to ask for help a lot.;; ) 

**Mitchell** : But Lacy was a fast learner, even if she was intimidated by everything at first. We got paired up a lot being the new kids on the block, and I wasn’t much tougher than she was so we actually made a pretty evenly matched group. We ended up really clicking with each other personality-wise too, and it’s never really gone away.


End file.
